Redemption

By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) 7/5/13...... Another Friday rolled around and I for one was looking forward to another day much like Wednesday. If we got the same kind of marine layer as we got earlier in the week we should be able to get in 40 plus miles and be home before the real heat started. I took my water bottles out of the freezer and placed them on the bike. I had breakfast, took the dog for a walk and came back to put on my kit and head out to Burger King. It took a while for everyone to arrive and just before we were ready to leave Huntress called to say she was on her way. One of the advantages to having a bicycle is that if you have a flat on your car you still have transportation to get you to the ride. That is just what she did and she was only three minutes late, as opposed to being just on time on a normal day. So we pulled out of the parking lot and onto Latham with Digger, Dura Max, Surgeon, Highlander, Shadow, Huntress, Centaur and me. A quick spin to Lyon and we were heading north towards Ramona.

I felt pretty good as we moved north and my legs were worming quite well and I started to spin easily past Menlo and then Esplanade and Cottonwood. There wasn’t much traffic and we were able to roll along pretty easily. As I looked behind me it was good to see the rest of the group talking and having a good time. I also could see Huntress pacing me and I knew she would be there as we reached the two big rollers in front of Lake Perris. After her perfect attack on Hospital Hill on Wednesday I was concerned that this might be my second day of getting “Chicked” even if it made me proud to see how well she has improved since we have been riding together. I was thinking this as we turned west towards Sanderson with me pulling.

I knew that with my low carb diet I had to conserve some energy if I had any hope of staying in front of Huntress past Nuevo I needed to turn the pull over to someone else as soon as we were out on the expressway. Digger took a turn and Surgeon took off and gapped us right off of the bat. That gap however was enough to alert the dogs at the dairy so they were waiting for us as we got there. They just barked however and soon we were by them and heading for Nuevo. Highlander took over the pull and we followed him to the Valero for a short break. Somehow I ended up in front as we headed back out on the expressway and I could almost feel Highlander and Huntress on my wheel. I have been riding with heart rate zones for the last week or two and my plan was to stay below zone three, for me that is below 157 BPM, and I didn’t know if I could make both rollers and stay in that zone. As we started up the first roller Surgeon pulled by on the right and I was tempted to follow. I just kept my pace at about 90 rpm and rolled over the first roller pretty easy. I was on my way to the second when I noticed Centaur gaining. I started to pick it up but quickly moved through zone three heading for zone four. It was time to down shift and wait till I was back in three on the other side of the hill. Centaur caught me with Highlander on his wheel but Huntress was nowhere in sight. I crested the second hill and felt redeemed as we all regrouped at the light on Rider before riding to Evans. It was a hop skip and a jump to Orange and then to Nuevo before heading east towards Menifee.

I pulled to Menifee and then gave things over to Highlander. The pace picked up just a bit and I fell back to ride with Digger. I watched as the group left us and faded away past the nursery. It didn’t matter because Digger and I talked to the top of the rise. I started to pull a bit harder but we didn’t close any of the group. Finally we saw them waiting on the other side of Florida. We had a quick regroup and headed for McCall. Highlander started us and pulled to McCall where we went straight to Simpson up the Little Hill. I pushed up the hill in zone three and crested without hitting zone four and ended up chasing Shadow, Centaur, and Surgeon all the way to Chris’s. We took another break at Chris’s for fluids and fuel before heading back up Winchester to Stowe and east towards California.

As we got back up to speed I realized I had made it through a whole ride without being “Chicked” by Huntress even once. It was redemption for the old guy even if the realization was sooner or later she would simply be too fast for me and it would take a perfect pass for me to beat her up a hill. This quickly went through my head as we got to California and headed north to Stetson. This was where I lost my camera Wednesday and had to get it replaced for today’s ride. I modified my top tube bag with three more Velcro straps with the hope the new camera will not suffer the fate of the last three camera’s. But this time the Velcro held and we worked our way towards Warren.

Surgeon left us at Warren and Highlander took the lead taking us to the airport road. Everyone but Dura Max and I turned at the airport. Dura Max and I continued on to Sanderson and north to Johnston. It was time to drop back into the small ring and spin my legs home. It is less than two miles to my street and Dura Max left me there and continued on towards the east end and his house. I got home and had lunch while reflecting on what a good ride we had and my rider redemption.